Method and apparatus for automatically threading the healds of a loom



1964 H. MEIERHOFER 3,

I METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY 'JPI'IRFLADIIIG THE HEALDS OF A LOOM Filed Sept. 24, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 luvmroR Huaa NEIERHOFFR Feb. 25, 1964 H. MEIERHOFER 3,121,936 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY THREADING THE HEALDS OF A LOOM Filed Sept. 24, 1962 s Sheets-Sheet 2 [mm/70R husa ME/iRHoI-ER fITTOR/YE) Feb. 25, 1964 H. MEIERHOFER 3,121,936

' METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY THREADING THE HEALDS OF A LOOM Filed Sept. 24, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 [um/T R huso ME/ERHOFER United States Patent 3,121,936 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATI- tIALLY THREADENG THE HEALDS 0F A LOGM Hugo Meierhofer, Uster, Switzerland, assignor to Zellwerger Ltd, Uster Factories for Apparatus and Machines, Uster, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Sept. 24,. 1962, Set. No. 225,452 Claims priority, appiication Switzerland Aug. 31, 1959 iaims. (CI. 28-46) The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically threading the healds of a loom for weaving.

The present application is a continuation-in-part application of copending application Serial No. 50,890, filed August 22, 1960, now abandoned.

Several methods and apparatuses have been developed for automatically threading the healds of a loom for weaving. In one method the healds remain on a shaft stave during the entire threading operation and are displaced thereon, necessitating a special device for each stave for separating the healds to be threaded. Special healds are provided so that the separating devices can be simplified. If the number of healds on the individual staves is not the same, the additional healds must be threaded by hand and excess healds must be removed by hand.

In another method which is suitable for almost any type of heald, the staves are removed from the heald frames and are placed on a special magazine which is mounted with the staves on the threading apparatus. The latter removes the outermost heald, threads it, and places it on a new stave in the desired sequence. Thereupon the staves with the threaded healds must be mounted by hand on the respective frames. If the healds have closed end eyes for receiving the staves, the latter must be taken out of the heald frames since the healds must be moved along the entire length of the staves during the threading operation and any support means for the staves would interfere with this movement. The conventional threading apparatus provides means for automatically and alternately supporting the staves at difierent places, permitting consecutive passage of the support locations by the healds.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically threading healds whose end eyes for receiving the shaft staves are open. The shaft staves are so connected to the heald frame and the healds are so connected to the shaft staves that the healds can be moved along the entire length of the shaft staves without removing the latter from the heald frame. Prior to starting threading, one lateral stay of each frame is removed and the healds of all frames are placed on a pair of support rails corresponding to the shaft staves of the frames from which the lateral stays have been removed. For automatically threading, the outermost heald of a row of healds is placed on distributing rails wherefrom the threaded heald is automatically pushed onto connecting rails which are aligned with the shaft staves of a predetermined heald frame from which the lateral stay has been removed. The method and apparatus according to the invention combines the advantages of the aforedescribed conventional methods inasmuch as the shaft staves need not be removed from the heald frames and only one separating device is required for the ealds of all heald frames so that no specially designed healds are required, with the exception that the end eyes of the healds must be open. The method and apparatus according to the invention make it still necessary to remove the healds from the shaft staves. However, shaft frames are available today which are so constructed as to greatly simplify this operation. With the method and apparatus according to the invention the required number of healds 3,l2l,9fid Patented Feb. 25, 1964 is placed on each heald frame after completion of the threading operation and it is not necessary to add healds or to remove excess healds.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, and additional objects and advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective illustration of an apparatus according to the invention with parts broken off to avoid confusion.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross sectional view of a connecting rail with the lower end of a heald placed thereon.

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagrammatic large scale illustration of a mechanism forming part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a support rail with a heald hanging thereon.

FIG. 5 is a part-sectional side View of an end of a lower shaft stave connected to a connecting rail according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is a part-sectional plan view of the ends of a plurality of lower shaft staves connected to connecting rails.

FIG. 7 is an end view of a lower shaft stave and lower beam of a heald frame.

FIG. 8 is a part-sectional schematic illustration of a pattern card controlled mechanism for placing healds relative to selected connecting rails.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, numeral 16 designates heald frames including shaft staves 11 mounted on horizontal beams 10'. Each frame has two lateral stays 12 of which the right one is removed in FIG. 1. All heald frames are mounted between jaws 13, the distance between which can be changed by rotating a crank 14. The healds 15 have been removed from the staves 11 and placed on two support rails 16 of a heald tireading apparatus, for example as shown in Patent 10. 2,828,527. The healds are provided with open end eyes 17 and 18 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The rails 16 are mounted on a support 19.

The heald threading apparatus includes means for separating the outermost heald from the row of healds l5, and means for threading the separated heald 15'. A drive shaft 20 makes one revolution during threading of a heald. A cam 21 mounted on the shaft 2% is followed by a roller 22 at the end of a lever 23 swinging on a shaft 23'. The lever 23 reciprocates a rod 24 guided to longitudinally move on a straight line by a stationary guide element 25. A separating element 26 and a holding element 27 are rigidly connected to the rod 24 for separating the outermost heald 15 of the row of healds 15. If desired, a second separating element 26 and a second holding element 27 may be supported by the rod 24 and placed below the elements 26 and 27 shown in FIG. 1 to also move the lower portion of the heald. These second elements are of same design as the elements 26 and 27 shown in FIG. 1 and are connected thereto by struts 26' and 2.7, respectively. The shaft 20 includes a crank 28 which actuates a connecting rod 29 pivoted to a holder of a threading needle 31 which holder is guided by means of a stationary guide 30 to longitudinally reciprocatingly move on a straight line. Conventional guides, which are not shown, take care that the point of the needle 31 is properly guided through the eye of the separated heald 15'. Also not shown is a conventional means for automatically threading the needle 31 after it has been inserted in the eye of the heald so that a thread is pulled through the eye of the heald upon the return movement of the needle 31.

After a thread has been pulled through the eye of a heald, the ends of the threaded heald are transferred to connecting rail" 32. The apparatus for doing this is shown on a larger scale in FIG. 3. When the outermost heald 15' is separated from the row of healds 15 the lower end of the heald 15' is placed on a distributing rail 33. The upper end of the heald is placed on a distributing rail 33'. The distributing rails 33, 33' are mounted on blocks 34 and 34, respectively, which are made fast on horizontal rods 35 and 35", respectively. The latter are interconnected by a vertical rod 35 and are movable in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the rods which are normal to the stavcs 11. This movement is effected until the distributing rails 33, 33 are opposite predetermined connecting rails 32. The rods 35, 35" are moved by a mechanism shown in FIG. 8 which is controlled by a pattern card and which will be described later.

The apparatus for transferring the lower ends of the threaded healds to the respective connecting rails will now be described. A hook 48 is mounted on a sleeve 49 which is longitudinally movable on a shaft 36 parallel to the rod 35', but cannot rotate on the shaft 36 due to the provision of a longitudinal groove 37 in the shaft 36 receiving a protuberance provided on the inside of the sleeve. Suitable brackets connected to the block 34. take the sleeve and the book 48 along when the blade is moved. When a distributing rail 33 is located opposite a selected connecting rail 32 the shaft 36 is revolved in counterclockwise direction by means of a rack forming part of a vertical bar 39 and engaging a pinion 38 mounted on the shaft 36. In order to vertically move the bar 39 to effect rotation of the pinion 38, the bar 39 is provide with a pin 49 riding on a cam 41 which is mounted on the shaft 20. counterclockwise rotation of the shaft 36 causes rotation of the hook 43 toward the lower end eye 18 of the heald 15 for pushing the heald onto the connecting rail 32.. Subsequently threaded healds push the healds already on the connecting rail 32 to the left. A second mechanism equal to the afore-described mechanism and placed upside down is connected to the described mechanism by the rod 35. The second mechanism is placed above the described mechanism for transferring the upper ends of the healds to the upper connecting rails 32. The upper shaft 36 is driven by the bar 39 whose upper end forms a rack engaging a pinion 38 on the shaft 36'.

FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate an example of a structure to prevent blocking of the movement of the healds from the lower connecting rails 32 to the lower shaft staves 133. whereby corresponding, inclin d surfaces 42. are provided at the ends of the connecting rails and at the ends of the shaft staves which face the aforesaid ends of the connecting rails. This effects good alignment of the top and bottom of the connecting rails and of the shaft staves and prevents formation of steps which interfere with the free movement of the healds from the connecting rails onto the shaft staves. In order to avoid any obstructions on the side of the connection of the rails and of the shaft staves, each shaft stave 11 may be provided with a recess 53 adapted to receive the pointed end of an attachment 44 connected to the connecting rail 32.. In order to facilitate connecting of the respective heald frames it? to the connecting rails 32 without necessitating exact guidance of the ends of the shaft staves, each heald frame may be provided with a guide slot 45 adapted to receive one leg 46 of a U-shaped rail 46 connected to the connecting rails for effecting proper relative elevation of the heald frames and of the connecting rails. The other leg of the rail 46 is provided with teeth 47 adapted to be individually received in cavities 1f) of the horizontal beams it) of the heald frames It).

The connecting rails 32 can be arranged fanlike, not shown in the drawing, so that the ends opposite the distributing rails can be placed close together whereby a tie travel of the distributing rails is reduced and the apparatus can be operated at higher speed.

FIG. 8 diagrammatically illustrates a pattern card controlled apparatus for moving the bracket formed by the rod 35 having portions 35' and 35" to which the blocks 3% and 34, respectively, are rigidly connected. The apparatus comprises a shaft 69 which is rotated in synchronisrn with the shaft 20 or may be identical therewith and on which a cam element 6! is mounted. The latter has a cam groove receiving a cam follower roller 64 which is rotatable on a pin 63 extending from a lever 62. The right end of the lever 62 is in the shape of a fork whose prongs straddle the shaft 6'9. The left end of the lever 62 is pivotally connected by means of a pin 66 to the upper end of a support element 67. The latter is swin able on a pin 68 supported by a stationary bearing 69.

A ratchet wheel '70 and a card cylinder 71 are rigidly connected to the pin 66. The cylinder 71 is provided with pegs 72 registering with holes in a pattern card 73. Rotation of the cam element 61 causes a reciprocating movement of the cylinder 7!. A pawl 74 swingably supported by a pin 75 extending from a stationary support tit is urged by a spring 76 against an abutment 77 and adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel. A lock pawl is swingably connected to the support element 6'7 and is urged by a spring 79 against the ratchet wheel '78.

Control pins Si are axially movable in the support 80. Support arms or brackets 82 swingably support control levers 33. Each of the latter has two arms, the lower arm being provided with a forked end straddling a horizontal portion of the rod 35 which portion is at a right angle to the portions 35' and 35. Due to the different lengths of the lower arms of the levers 83 the bracket formed by the rod 35 is moved to a different extent upon equal strokes of the pins 81 against the ends of the upper arms of the levers 83. The upper arm of each lever 83 is urged against a head at the left end of a pin 81. These heads form shoulders abutting against the support 89 when the pins and therefore the levers and the bracket formed by the rod 35 are in base position.

Upon clockwise movement of the support element 67 caused by the rotation of the cam element 61 the right ends of the control pins 81 become disengaged from the cylinder 71. Upon continued clockwise movement of the element 67 the pawl 74 engages the ratchet wheel 70, causing counterclockwise rotation thereof by one tooth before termination of the clockwise movement of the element 67. The ratchet wheel is locked in the new position by the lock pawl 7 8.

The cylinder '71 is provided with apertures 85 which are arranged in rows parallel to the rotation axis of the cylinder. If there is no pattern card 73, each pin 81 extends through an aperture 85 when the pin 66 is in left dead center position. The circumferential spacing of the rows of apertures 55 on the cylinder 71 is coordinated to the pitch of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 70, i.e. there are as many rows of apertures as there are teeth. The axial spacing of the apertures 85 is the same as the distance between the control pins 81.

The pattern card which may be made of thin steel sheet material, of synthetic material, or of a laminated material consisting of paper and metal foils is provided 'ith rows of apertures corresponding to the rows of apertures in the cylinder 71. In some or in each one of the rows of apertures in the pattern card not more than one aperture is missing. Therefore, one of the pins 81 will be moved to the left upon swinging of the element 67 in counterclockwise direction and will push the control lever 83 associated therewith to move in counterclockwise direction and move the bracket formed by the rod 35 t0 the right so that the distributing rail 33 is moved opposite a selected one of the connecting rails 32. A threaded heald 15 waiting on the rail 33 can now be pushed by the hook 48 from the distributing rail 33 onto the desired connecting rail 32. Thereupon the element 67 swings to the right due to the action of the cam element 61 and the springs 84 pull the control levers 83 and the pins 81 as well as the bracket formed by the rod 35 and therefore the distributing rail 33 into the base position.

When element 67 has reached right dead center position the cylinder 71 and the pattern card 73 have been advanced by one pitch. At a subsequent counterclockwise swing of the element 67 the same pin 81 or a different pin 81, depending on the position of the apertures in the pattern card, may be actuated so that any desired distribution of threaded healds on the heald frames may be effected.

I claim:

1. A method for automatically threading the healds of a loom for weaving, the healds having open end eyes for receiving the shaft staves and being adapted to be moved along the entire length of the respective heald frame, and the latter having a removable lateral stay, the method including removing the lateral stays from the heald frames, placing the healds of all frames from which the lateral stays have been removed on a pair of support rails corresponding to the shaft staves and forming a row of healds on said rails, separating the outermost heald from said row of healds and simultaneously placing the heald on distributing rails, threading the separated heald, moving the distributing rails in alignment with connecting rails aligned with the shaft staves of a predetermined heald frame, and moving the threaded heald from the distributing rails onto the connecting rails which are in alignment with the distributing rails.

2. An apparatus for automatically threading the healds of a loom for weaving, comprising a pair of heald support rails for supporting a row of healds, heald distributing means adapted to temporarily support a heald and to be temporarily aligned with said support rails and to be subsequently aligned with the shaft staves of a predetermined heald frame, means for separating the outermost heald from said row of healds and for placing the separated heald on said distributing means, and means for threading the separated heald, said distributing means including means for pushing the threaded heald from said distributing means towards the shaft staves of a predetermined heald frame.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 including a common drive means for said separating means, for said threading means, and for said pushing means.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 including a plurality of connecting rails corresponding in number to that of the upper and lower shaft staves of the heald frames whose healds must be threaded, each of said connecting rails having an end placed opposite one end of a shaft stave, each of said connecting rails having a second end, said second ends of all connecting rails whose first ends are opposite upper shaft staves being placed on a line and the second ends of all connecting rails whose first ends are opposite lower shaft staves being placed on a line, said distributing means being adapted to move along said lines, and said pushing means being adapted to push the threaded healds onto said connecting rails.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4 including means connected to the first ends of said connecting rails and individually adapted to engage the shaft staves of the heald frames whose healds must be threaded for aligning the first ends of said connecting rails with the ends of the respective shaft staves upon movement of the shaft staves toward the apparatus.

Hathaway et al. June 20, 1916 Meierhofer Apr. 1, 1958 

1. A METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY THREADING THE HEALDS OF A LOOM FOR WEAVING, THE HEALDS HAVING OPEN END EYES FOR RECEIVING THE SHAFT STAVES AND BEING ADAPTED TO BE MOVED ALONG THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE RESPECTIVE HEALD FRAME, AND THE LATTER HAVING A REMOVABLE LATERAL STAYS FROM THE HEALD FRAMES, PLACING THE HEALDS OF ALL FRAMES FROM WHICH THE LATERAL STAYS HAVE BEEN REMOVED ON A PAIR OF SUPPORT RAILS CORRESPONDING TO THE SHAFT STAVES AND FORMING A ROW OF HEALDS ON SAID RAILS, SEPARATING THE OUTERMOST HEALD FROM SAID ROW OF HEALDS AND SIMULTANEOUSLY PLACING THE HEALD ON DISTRIBUTING RAILS, THREADING THE SEPARATED HEALD, MOVING THE DISTRIBUTING RAILS IN ALIGNMENT WITH CONNECTING RAILS ALIGNED WITH THE SHAFT STAVES OF A PREDETERMINED HEALD FRAME, AND MOVING THE THREADED HEALD FROM THE DISTRIBUTING RAILS ONTO THE CONNECTING RAILS WHICH ARE IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE DISTRIBUTING RAILS. 